William Jones (VC)

William Jones (1839-15 April 1913) was a British Army private who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery at the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War.

Biography
William Jones was born in Bristol, England in 1839, and he came from a Welsh family. He enlisted in the 24th Regiment of Foot, a South Wales regiment of the British Army, and was deployed to South Africa before the start of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879; he befriended fellow Welsh soldier Robert Jones, and they called each other by their service numbers to avoid confusion over their shared surnames. During the Battle of Rorke's Drift on 22-23 January 1879, the two Joneses defended one of the wards in the field hospital, and both of them were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery. He was discharged in 1880 and became an actor, and he moved to Manchester in 1910 and was forced to pawn his Victoria Cross after falling upon hard times. He was employed at a workhouse on Bridge Street, and he died in 1913 at the age of 74 and was buried in a pauper's grave.